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8 COVER STORY • UNIMOG 2 • 2010 The Unimog remains on track even on wet and icy roads thanks to ABS. Changes of season pose a particular hazard to road users. Fog hinders visibility and vision, and Autumn leaves make roads slippery. So it is good that the rear lighting on the Unimog makes it so clearly visible to the traffic behind: with four tail lights, two indicators, two rear headlights, two reflectors, a fog tail light and two brake lights. In addition, two side-marker lamps as well as outline and periphery marker lamps ensure that the Unimog is clearly seen in every situation. The front headlights feature a range control system. Wild animals on German roads caused 2,412 accidents entailing personal injury last year (Destatis, Advertisement Road maintenance equipment for Unimog U300 - U500 and U20 July 1, 2010). In such cases, and others in which abrupt braking is required, ABS prevents the vehicle from breaking away in various road conditions. Optional anti-skid or snow chains can be fitted in Winter to enhance traction and track control. Safety training: The Unimog shows what it can do Full braking on a wet road, cornering on a slippery surface and evading obstacles – 20 members of staff from the Unimog Austria sales organisation had the opportunity to experience for themselves the outstanding safety features and top-class handling of the Unimog over the course of a two-day event. “It’s the best way to get to know all the benefits and key features of the product you are selling. There is nothing more persuasive than getting behind the wheel yourself and managing to keep your vehicle on track under full braking on a mirror-like icy surface,” Ramsauer asserts. The driving technical centre of the Austrian Automobile, Motorcycle and Touring Club (ÖAMTC) in Marchtrenk in Upper Austria provided the perfect setting for the safety training course, with its computercontrolled water obstacles, inclines and slide surfaces. After all, the whole point of the event was for the Unimog to show what it can do. And it did just that. The result was clear: the Unimog is well ahead of the rest when it comes to safety. r Our comprehensive range of front and rear mounted mowing equipment with a versatile range of working attachments is the optimum solution for an allyear use of the Unimog. Please ask for our general folder about professional mowing equipment. International Unimog System-Partner Innovation and quality – we are committed to our reputation.
A misleading gut feeling Jürgen Freigang, an expert on transportation of hazardous goods and load securing, knows what is important when safety is at stake. In a comparison between a tractor and a Unimog, the “universal motor machine” comes out impressively on top. Unimog Magazine: You recently gave a presentation to a customer event at Minufa, the Unimog distributor in Herborn in the state of Hesse. What was the purpose of the event? Jürgen Freigang: It was intended to compare two different systems: a tractor and a Unimog. Minufa clearly demonstrated that the Unimog is safer to handle in some situations – even for the unpractised driver. When braking with ABS, for example, the Unimog remains well on track, even on a road surface with varying grip on the left and right sides of the vehicle and when driving at 50 km/h, whereas the tractor breaks away at just 30 km/h on such a surface, because it has no ABS. The test also compared load securing. It demonstrated that a tonne weight on a vehicle moves around under full braking at 20 km/h just the same as a light load. Many of the people attending the event expected that the crate holding the tonne weight would barely move on the load space. Yet when they saw that both crates were catapulted forward against the front bulkhead even at such a low speed at the same rate – the heavy object merely with much greater impact energy than the empty one – there was widespread astonishment. Their gut feeling had told them the outcome would be very different! Unimog Magazine: The issue of safety is also always linked to the question of responsibility – who is liable in the event of an accident? Jürgen Freigang: Many people are not sufficiently aware of their responsibility in this respect. According to StVZO regulations sections 30 and 31, a vehicle’s owner is fundamentally responsible for its operation. He/she must ensure that a vehicle is only ever used when it is safe. That includes, in particular, ensuring compliance with traffic safety regulations as well as rules governing safety when operating equipment and carrying passengers, etc. And the units builton to a carrier vehicle – such as a Unimog – must also be joined together so as to technically ensure safe operation on the road. UNIMOG 2 • 2010 • COVER STORY 9 Jürgen Freigang: “A vehicle’s owner is fundamentally responsible for its operation.” Unimog Magazine: What role do vehicle, body and built-on unit manufacturers play in that? Jürgen Freigang: Vehicle manufacturers such as <strong>Mercedes</strong>-<strong>Benz</strong>, and the associated body manufacturers, maintain close mutual links and coordinate their products to an optimum degree. The issues of product safety and – where appropriate – product liability are key considerations for both parties, just as they are for the company which fits the built-on units and then supplies the complete system. With regard to load securing for example: StVO section 22, paragraph 1 stipulates that, on taking evasive action under full braking, the load must not slide, roll, tip, make noise or fall down – meaning that lashing points or other load securing aids and systems are essential. That is to say, body manufacturers should work out in advance and advise the vehicle manufacturer of the locations at which lashing points or other facilities need to be fitted, and how they need to be dimensioned. In concrete terms, this means: How many deca-Newtons (= daN; see also, for example, the blue lashing point identifiers on flat-bed truck) need to be held in what direction? The standard stipulations for trucks over 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight rating are as follows: 80 percent of the force due to weight must be secured against sliding forward, and 50 percent respectively against sliding to the rear and side. Put simply: Of a tonne load weight, as much as 800 kilograms is forced towards the cab under full braking; of 10 tonnes, 8 is forced forward, etc. Once the load has started sliding, enormous impacts can occur representing many times the force due to weight of the load! In the case of a gritter vehicle or the like, this can result in a few tonnes’ impact in a very short space of time … r
Page 1 and 2: www.mercedes-benz.com September 201
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Page 11 and 12: UNIMOG 2 • 2010 • AGROLOGISTICS
Page 13 and 14: A highly manoeuvrable fire-fighter
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Page 19 and 20: The U 500 is a boon to Eugen Betz b
Page 21 and 22: an ageing marshalling locomotive,
Page 23 and 24: the new setup.” Egbert Henkel, ma
Page 25 and 26: UNIMOG 2 • 2010 • ENGINEERING 2
Page 27 and 28: In the Summer, the U 400 is deploye
Page 29 and 30: the personalised Unimog Service Car
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